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Wheeling Pittsburgh Reports
1st Quarter Results

May 12, 2004 — Wheeling Pittsburgh Corp. reported an operating loss of $4.5 million on net sales of $274.2 million for the period ending March 31, 2004.

The operating loss of $4.5 million, is a significant improvement over the operating loss of $21 million reported in the fourth quarter of 2003. On a per-share basis, the reported loss equaled $0.70 per share, which compares to a reported loss of $2.49 per share in the previous quarter.

Net sales totaled $274.2 million on shipments of 538,701 tons of steel products, which compares to net sales of $237.1 million on shipments of 542,211 tons of steel products shipped in the previous quarter.

Average selling price for steel shipped during the quarter, $509 per ton, compares to $437 for the previous quarter. Cost of goods sold per ton averaged $475, up from the $436 per ton reported in the fourth quarter of 2003.

Depreciation and SG&A expenses totaled $7.7 million and $14.9 million respectively, compared to $6.9 million and $14.5 million reported in the fourth quarter. Interest expense declined to $5.2 million from $6.3 million in the previous quarter.

Comments—"We are pleased with our improved operating performance in the first quarter," said James G. Bradley, President and CEO of Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel. "In addition to surcharges going into effect, we worked through our backlog of orders in the quarter. We feel that despite higher input costs, we hit our stride in the last month of the quarter, which was a strong improvement over January and February."

Bradley added, "As a result of continued high demand, we expect pricing to continue to be significantly higher in the second quarter than in the first quarter. While we expect that costs will rise as well, we do not expect that rise to be nearly as dramatic. With the improvement in both pricing and demand, we look forward to an advantageous environment for the balance of 2004."

Wheeling-Pittsburgh is an integrated steel company engaged in the making, processing and fabrication of steel and steel products including hot rolled and cold rolled sheet and coated products such as galvanized, pre-painted and tin mill sheet. The company also produces a variety of steel products including roll formed corrugated roofing, roof deck, floor deck, bridgeform and other products used primarily by the construction, highway and agricultural markets. Wheeling Pittsburgh Corp. is the holding company of Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp.

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